Charles "Charlie" Linville (born August 22, 1985) is an American military veteran who is the first combat-wounded veteran ever to summit Mount Everest.[2][3] He made this climb after three years of training. Linville was injured when serving his second tour in Afghanistan.

Charlie Linville
Born
Charles Linville

1985 (age 38–39).[1]
SpouseMandi Linville
Children2
Military career
Allegiance United States
Service / branch United States Marine Corps
Years of service2007 – 2011
RankSergeant
AwardsPurple Heart

Early life and education

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Charles Linville was born in Boise, Idaho and is the youngest of four children. He has three older sisters, Blank, Elizabeth, and Heather. His father was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma when Linville was a freshman in high school. Linville enlisted in the Marine Corps and attended a boot camp in California in 2006. He then went to the School of Infantry at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton and completed SOI training.[4] He completed additional training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego.

Career

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Linville became an assault specialist and was deployed to Iraq. During his tour, he was promoted to Corporal. After returning from Iraq, Linville decided to pursue explosives further. He was sent to Afghanistan in 2010. He was then placed with a different EOD team and worked in Sangin, where he continued to disarm many IEDs. On January 20, 2011, he was conducting a post-blast analysis sweep, and was struck by an IED. He had multiple injuries and was immediately evacuated to Bastian Medical Center for hand surgery. Linville has multiple other surgeries on his hand and foot. He lost his foot after 14 months, and received the Purple Heart.[4][5][6]

In 2014, he joined the Heroes Project, a 501(c)(3) organization under the leadership of Tim Medvetz, to climb Mount Everest, and he became the first combat-wounded veteran to summit Mount Everest.[7][8][9][10]

Personal life

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Linville later married Mandi on August 26, 2006. Together they have two daughters.[4]

References

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  1. ^ Hart, Melanie (ed.). "Charles Linville". Heroes Project. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
  2. ^ "Ex-Marine Becomes First Combat Amputee to Reach Everest Summit".
  3. ^ "Marine amputee aims to conquer Mount Everest, "demons" of war".
  4. ^ a b c "USMC SSGT CHARLIE LINVILLE".
  5. ^ "USMC SSGT CHARLIE LINVILLE". The Heroes Project. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
  6. ^ "Ex-Marine Becomes First Combat Amputee to Reach Everest Summit". NBC News. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
  7. ^ "Marine Veteran Charlie Linville is First Combat-Wounded Amputee to Scale Mount Everest".
  8. ^ "Wounded veteran Charlie Linville summits Mount Everest".
  9. ^ "Ex-Marine and amputee sets his sights on scaling Mount Everest".
  10. ^ Equinox. "Boise Native, USMC SSgt. Charles Linville Becomes First Combat Wounded Veteran To Summit Mount Everest". www.prnewswire.com.